An Introduction to Sciatica and Piriformis Syndrome

For someone like me, who is in front of the computer a lot of the time, it is no wonder the odd ache and pain would suddenly crop up. I kept on saying to myself I have to at least take off some time to walk around the block, which really did bore me to tears.

So after I powered out for the night and bent down to pick up the garbage bin I felt an immediate numb-like feeling all the way down my leg. I'm in my thirties, so it is not like I am completely inactive.

In addition to this, a simple 30 minutes on the tennis court was all it took for the next set of aches, but these seemed more severe and as the others wore away this one just decided to stick around. Finally I realized that this was piriformis syndrome. With a set of exercises that treat the area I was able to get back to shape.

There are other things that you can do with this treatment. Give yourself two to six weeks, depending on the condition whereby you are strict in applying this on a daily basis and if you see no improvement after then it is important that you seek medical attention.

This is nothing to be taken lightly. If it is left it can be extremely painful and you may need surgery. Some people are walking around with a cane because of Sciatic nerve pain so make sure you go through a routine and if you are still in pain then take yourself off to the doctor where you can be accessed.

credit: flickr.com/photos/doctorow/4130862980

Exercises should be incorporated into your daily lifestyle. They are not a full hour session or even 30 minutes, but you should be able to get off your chair and have a walk around. Take one foot and place it on the opposite knee. If your co-worker thinks you have gone round the twist, that’s OK! Maybe you can tell him to join in.

Causes of sciatic nerve pain

Finding out whether the injury is serious or not is something you will want to know about. You have to get to the root of the problem and here you can look at the causes. For example in my situation it was less serious and I know it was because of my stupidity of not warming up and running around like a crazy thing like I haven’t done before on a concrete surface without the proper shoes, of course one thing led to the next.

Here are the main causes and if you can’t pin point a specific time that the injury happened then it may be something more serious.

Piriformis Syndrome

If you have overworked yourself, often on hard surfaces the piriformis muscle is the one which is most likely to scream out in pain because it helps in rotating your thigh. It is found at the lower part of the spine and also connects to the thighbone.

The sciatic nerve runs below the muscle and will irritate it when the muscle goes into a spasm. This happens to a lot of runners and unfortunately they learn the hard way.

If you have never seen any point in stretching then you will once you have suffered something like this. It only takes a couple of minutes to go through before your evening run, but will do you the world of good. Sitting on your behind all day long is sometimes unavoidable because of the profession that you are in, but this can also lead to sciatic nerve pain.

Every couple of minutes take a break and walk around the office. There are a few things you should learn to incorporate in your daily routine if this is your type of lifestyle. Read about treatments.

Herinated Disc

Also known as bulging disc, when the so called gel inside the disc breaks open and presses against the nerve root. This case can be damaging since the material that is found inside the disc is acid in nature causes severe nerve inflammation. This is when patients will complain of muscle weakness, tingling and numbness.

credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/chiropractic/4668258448

Spondylolisthesis

This is a disorder that is related to the condition, affecting the spine. People are either born with it or it is from placing a lot of stress on the area. For example, weightlifters put a lot of pressure in one place. The vertebra will slip over another and this causes severe leg pain when the nerve comes into contact with one of the displaced vertebras.

The difference between Pirformis Syndrome and Sciatica

The more I found out about Sciatica, the more I realized this is what I must have and it’s easy to get these two conditions mixed up. Most people get confused about these two conditions or simply think they are the same thing, simply because the symptoms are so similar.

You will even find some doctors telling you they are the same. I was a lot happier to hear that I had Piriformis Sydrome because this is muscular related and easier to treat.

Sciatica is more directly related to the discs coming into contact with the nerve. After the Piriformis muscle becomes inflamed it will start to come into contact with the nerve, causing pain. With adequate treatment and stretching you will find that this will come back to full strength in a matter of days.

It is, however possible to have both of these at the same time. If you want to find out what you have then sit on a chair and raise the leg that is in pain. Sit cross-legged. If you find there is a pull on your hamstring then you are most likely to be suffering from Piriformis Sydrome. At first it may feel as if you have pulled a hamstring, but the pain will also be in the buttock area.